The following information was supplied by the Yinka Dene Alliance…

As you’ve probably heard, the Yinka Dene Alliance is on their Freedom Train to the Enbridge AGM on May 9 in Toronto. They are travelling across Canada to enforce our legal ban on the Enbridge Northern Gateway oil pipelines and tankers project, and to stand up for our freedom to choose our own future. A large delegation of Yinka Dene people will travel with allied First Nations from our traditional territories all the way to Toronto, with events in Jasper, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg along the route. In Toronto we will take the Save the Fraser Declaration directly to Enbridge’s leadership, and to financial observers, at Enbridge’s annual shareholders meeting. A representative from the Coastal First Nations will also bring their Declaration. Among the key purposes of this journey is to raise up our opposition on the national stage, to project strength, and to reinforce the message that this project is not going to get built.

We need your help. We have created a petition – http://freedomtrain2012.nationbuilder.com/ – specifically for the Freedom Train as we gather support and interest across the country. We hope that you will share it with your considerable lists and encourage your supporters and members to sign on. We have not made this sort of a request to you before. We are taking an effort to reach out to as many people Canada-wide as possible, and hopefully beyond our normal base of support. As you know, the Yinka Dene Alliance is not a list-building organization and our authority not depend on endorsement by those outside of our communities. However, we know that people are supporting First Nations in this fight and we would like to be able to show it in numbers. The list generated will be used rarely, but strategically, in the future.

We hope that you will help us in this regard, and hopefully soon so that we build a fast head of steam on this petition as we set out on our journey, and prior to it.

Spreading the word on Freedom Train: We also encourage you to personally, and as organizations, share and spread the goings-on from the Freedom Train. We will be blogging from the road and uploading videos, and there will be press conferences in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto. We have been honoured by the way that our allies have respectfully shared the news from the Save the Fraser events, and other Yinka Dene Alliance and broader Indigenous events, in this struggle. We will be tweeting from @yinkadeneA5, and using the #freedomtrain and #enbridge hashtags.

Thanks for your assistance. If you need to reach us on the road, you can reach us at 2012freedomtrain@gmail.com or yinkadenealliance@gmail.com

Petition link again: http://freedomtrain2012.nationbuilder.com/

Freedom train website: http://freedomtrain2012.com/